No one is quite sure when it happened.
How the heart was broken.
It seemed so protected in its layers of brick
yet now we can only stand looking
at the scattered shards.
And walk so carefully.
Lest one take hold in a gap in our socks
a hole in our pants
a scab that has not quite healed.
For it one were to disappear
to be ground into powder
or to break skin
it will not only fester in its new location
(because heart pieces are quite toxic on their own)
but all would be lost
because
we would never be able to put it back together again